We Will Never Forget Hiroshima! June 1

June 4, 2012

Today was a very moving and memorable day as we went to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Peace Park first thing in the morning. At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima fell victim to the world’s first atomic bomb. The entire city was virtually levelled and thousand of lives were lost. Many of those who managed to survive suffered irreparable damage and still suffer the effects today. We learned so much from visiting this beautiful museum and we must never, ever allow an atomic bomb to be used against mankind again! Incredible displays of photos and belongings of the victims that had tears streaming down my face. We also visited the Children of the World Peace Monument which was built in memory of Sadako Sasaki who was exposed to the A-Bomb when she was just 2 years old and 10 years later developed leukemia.She started to make origami cranes as she knew the Japanese legend of whoever could create 1000 origami cranes their wish would be granted and her wish was to live. She made it to 644 before she died but family and friends finished the rest which were all buried with her. A beautiful monument built in her honour shows her holding one of the origami cranes. When we were there Japanese school children were gathered around the base of the statue singing. The Atomic Bomb Dome is a building that was severely damaged by the A-Bomb and it remains standing as is, as a symbol of Hiroshima, conveying the horror of nuclear weapons and appealing for world peace. I am so glad we stopped at Hiroshima on our Japan journey. We will never forget Hiroshima! We made it back to the train station just in time to catch the first of 3 trains to take us to Gifu where my friend Sonomi’s parents live. The rail system here in Japan is absolutely incredible. We have not travelled yet on the Bullet, which is the fastest train, but the super-express ones are very fast as well. While standing on the platform waiting for our train, one came whizzing through the station like a rocket and they actually look like rockets! It was nice to leave all of the concrete and highrises behind and again view the beautiful rice paddies stretching out for miles and miles and occasionally seeing some workers attending the flooded fields. Sonomi’s parents picked us up and took us to their lovely home where we are being completely spoiled. There is a language barrier as they only speak Japanese and we only speak English but we are communicating!!! What an incredible meal Sonomi’s mom made for us. Sonomi called and told us her parents had Plan A and Plan B ready for us for tomorrow. We have chosen Plan B!! Sounds amazing!